Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-20

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing.

Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

It is true that in many parts of the world, villagers are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. I think it is a negative development because of the reduction of professional workers in the countryside and environmental challenges in cities.

The number of professional workers are reducing the villages. Professionals are getting less opportunities and financial facilities in the rural sides. For example, garment workers in the villages get less money for clothing other's clothes, which makes them demotivated. While workers do get enough money from the cities, their migration create imbalance in the village population and many people can not get suffcient professional workers. Skillful workers, therefore, are reducing in the villages, which causes the economic conditions of the villages.

Furthermore, environment pollution is increasing more in cities. For instance, people in Bangladesh are overcrowding the Dhaka city, and because of bad infrastructure of the city people are not getting enough dustbins to throw their unnecessary materials, which pollutes the air of the city. People are using more car in the city, and it reduces the air quality by producing more carbon. Not only does it decrease the quality of air, but it also hampers the health of humans. Consequently, environment pollution will hamper the future generation, and they will suffer from various diseases.

In conclusion, although moving from the countryside to cities may provide better opportunities for many people, I believe that the overall impact is negative. It reduces the amount of skillful workers in the countryside, and it decreases the quality of air, which is also harmful for the health of city people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that rural-to-urban migration is a negative development. The ideas are relevant, focusing on the loss of rural labor and urban environmental degradation. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation regarding 'garment workers' is slightly confusing and lacks a clear link to the broader economic impact on villages. While the position is consistent, the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly extended to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, maintaining the stance throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For instance', and 'Consequently' are used to link ideas, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The progression of ideas is generally logical, moving from the rural impact to the urban environmental impact. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly disrupted by awkward phrasing, such as the transition between the discussion of garment workers and the general economic condition of villages. Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'financial facilities' to describe wages and 'unnecessary materials' for waste. Phrases like 'rural sides' and 'clothing other's clothes' are unnatural. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'infrastructure', 'carbon', and 'migration', the range is somewhat limited. To improve, the student should focus on more precise collocations and academic vocabulary to express complex ideas more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The number of professional workers are reducing') and awkward phrasing ('their migration create imbalance'). Punctuation is generally functional, but some sentence constructions are clunky, which occasionally hinders the clarity of the argument. While the meaning is always understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and more varied sentence structures would be beneficial.

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